NEVADA
     Nov. 6, 2012 U.S. Senate

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+Dean Heller (R) i
457,656
45.87%
Shelley Berkley (D)
446,080
44.71%
David Lory Vanderbeek (IAP)
48,792
4.89%
NOTC
45,277
4.54%

997,805

Active Registered Voters: 1,258,409.  Total Turnout: 1,016,664.
Plurality: 11,576 votes (1.16 percentage points).

 NV Secretary of State




Notes: 
Sen. Dean Heller (R), appointed to the Senate in May 2011 (announced Apr. 27) by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) following the resignation of Sen. John Ensign (R), won a full term, defeating U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley (D) in a very tight race.

The June 12 primaries were not competitive; Heller won with 86.28% and Berkley with 79.46%.  Before being elected to Congress in 2006, Heller served three terms as Secretary of State and two terms in the Assembly.  Berkley was first elected to Congress in 1998; previously she served on the board of regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education and in the Assembly.  Berkley's cause was not helped when the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into her in July 2012.

Heller and Berkley participated in three debates:

Sept. 27 - at KNPB Public Television studios in Reno (>).

Oct. 11 - Nevada Broadcasters Association in Las Vegas (>).

Oct. 15 - on the "Ralston Reports" TV show.

According to Open Secrets (>), the Heller campaign spent $9.2 million to $11.6 million for the Berkley campaign.  Seven groups invested more than $1 million in the race.  Top groups on the Republican side were Crossroads GPS ($6.7m), NRSC ($3.6m) and American Future Fund ($1.3m) and on the Democratic side DSCC ($5.4m), Patriot Majority USA ($3.5m), AFSCME ($1.9m) and Majority PAC ($1.2m).

While Heller eked out a win, the Obama/Biden ticket carried
the state with a plurality of 67,806 votes (6.68 percentage points).


Campaign Managers:
Dean Heller:   Edgar "Mac" Abrams
Chief of staff to Heller since he started in Congress in Jan. 2007. Communications director to U.S. Sen. David Vitter (LA), Jan. 2005-Jan. 2007.  Press secretary to U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery (LA), Oct. 2000-Dec. 2004.  Communications director (1998-99) and legislative staff (1997) for U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson (AR).  Special assistant to the co-chair at the RNC, 1996-97.  B.S. in political science and history from UNC Chapel Hill, 1995.  From North Carolina.

Shelley Berkley:  Jessica Mackler
(June 2011)  Campaign manager on Kratovil for Congress (MD), Apr.-Nov. 2010.  Campaign strategy consultant to American Rights at Work, Dec. 2008-Apr. 2010.  Research director on Friends of May Landrieu, Aug. 2007-Nov. 2008.  Owner of The Athena Group, A Political Research & Strategy Firm, Feb. 2005-July 2007.  Deputy research director (June 2003-Feb. 2005) and researcher (July 2001-June 2003). at EMILY's List.  Studied at UC San Diego.


See also:
Ina Jaffe.  "Underdog Democrati Is Keeping Things Close in Nevada Senate Race."  NPR, Oct. 18, 2012.

John Bresnahan.  "Berkley case shakes up Nev. race."  Politico, July 9, 2012.

Rosalind S. Helderman.  "Reid puts his Nevada machine to work for Senate hopeful Berkley."  The Washington Post, June 9, 2012.


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